The room was more rectangular this time. Longer, with some benches in the back, an aisle down the side. It was laid out pretty similar to an old Earth courthouse, which we had copied for the Solacetown Court. It was kind of crazy what things were multiversal concepts.

  A court room was a pretty simple and basic design. People able to watch, the two tables for the defendant and prosecution, all facing the raised dais with the judge. This one had the two tables but instead of the big imposing judge’s bench, there was a raised dais with a not as imposing bench. More of a counter with no bar stools in front of it. Three Haric sat behind it. The Haric that had led us into the room motioned all of us to the left table, which was not big enough to hold all of us. Subudai took a seat, making Jhang Gho sit in the spectator rows. I sat at the other end, letting Orbic take the middle. The other table, on the right, was filled with three Anura.

  The one on the end was spellcaster I’d beaten up a bit and Orbic had kicked in the head. He was of course fully healed up by now and was glaring at us angrily. The other two didn’t bother looking at us.

  The Haric, that had led us, in moved to the take up position behind the three seating. The center one, a little taller than the other two, looked at Subudai.

  “You were not involved,” he said, his tone all matter-of-fact. “You are here as the representative of Jhang Gho’s Faction leadership.”

  “I am Jhang Gho’s Faction Leader,” Subudai said, a little indignant.

  “And so you were summoned to watch or participate as needed,” the lead Haric said, tone not changing. “Please allow Jhang Gho to take his proper seat so this tribunal may proceed.”

  Orbic chuckled. I smiled.

  Without a word, though I know he was seething inside, Subudai got up and motioned for Jhang Gho to take the seat. Subudai sat down in the front row, just to the side, so he could see past the table and glare imperiously at the Tribunal. One Jhang Gho was seated, the leader spoke again.

  “Present for this tribunal for the respondants are Nicholas Howell, Clanchief of the Solace Fellowship of Terra,” the lead Haric said.

  I heard Subudai make a startled noise. Guess that news hadn’t gotten to him yet. The lead Haric kept going.

  “Orbic Grun, Praetor of the Blood Sands Pact of Hortis. Jhang Gho of the Bounding Dragon Sect of Terra. In attendance is Subudai, Khan of the Bounding Dragon Sect. Present for this tribunal for the aggressors are Horuitokios, Great Tern of the Uritilityio of Loriwe, Nortiyolio of the Uritilityio and Veriticil of the Uritiliityio.”

  Interesting that they weren’t the same Anura Faction as Boro had been.

  With the introductions done, the Tribunal could get underway. I was curious how it was going to go. There were no lawyers present, so would we all get to speak our peace and the tribunal would make a decision? The whole thing went a lot quicker.

  The head tribunal Haric, and none of them had given any names or titles, turned to look at Horuitokios, or Horu as I would call him from now. Why did the Anura have to have such mouthfuls for names? The things were horrible to pronounce. And sounded even weirder in their bubbling and croaking voices.

  “Great Tern, do you acknowledge the unprovoked attack the three members of your Faction performed on Jhang Gho of the Bounding Dragon Sect?”

  “We do not,” Horu replied. “Our members were attacked by this Jhang Gho and when they were attempting to defend themselves, they were attacked by those two,” he finished, pointing two long fingers at me and Orbic.

  I laughed, getting a stern look from the three Haric.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Shutting up now.”

  Orbic chuckled, but kept it quiet. I could feel Subudai rolling his eyes.

  The three looked back at the Anura. The one to the left of center, from my direction anyways, he would have been on the right side of the center Haric, flicked a hand. An actual hologram appeared in the air behind them. I didn’t know if it was a hologram, but it was made of light and projected an image. It showed the alley and the three Anura holding Jhang Gho by the throat against the wall. It looked to be taken from right before I appeared.

  I leaned forward to glance at the three Anura, who were looking a little nervous.

  “Does this appear as if your faction members were defending themselves?” the lead Haric asked.

  Horu sputtered for a bit but did manage to get a lame defense out.

  “That is obviously after the Bounding Sects member attacked my faction members.”

  It was obvious no one was buying that.

  The tribunal, all three, turned to look at Jhang Gho.

  “Jhang Gho of the Bounding Dragon Sect, did you attack the three Uritiliityio faction members?”

  Jhang Gho looked over his shoulder at Subudai. I felt bad for the guy. He was out of his depth. Yeah, he was Level 100, but that didn’t mean much. Subudai had a lot of Sect members at that Level, far more than either the Fellowship or Fred’s Alliance. Subudai had been pushing people to Level for decades. From what my spies told me, he had whole schools devoted to just getting people to Level 100 as fast as possible. Most weren’t even his elite fighters.

  “You must answer Jhang Gho,” the Haric on the right said.

  Jhang Gho quickly looked back.

  “No. I was attacked by the Anura.”

  “He was not,” Horu croaked. “He attacked my people.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The Haric ignored his outburst, eyes on Jhang Gho.

  “Explain in more detail,” the center Haric said.

  Jhang Gho nodded, hanging his head for a second. He took a deep breath.

  “I was in the street watching,” he paused, glancing at me, and then continued speaking again. “The store owned by the Solace Fellowship.”

  I sat up, leaning forward to look past Orbic at Jhang Gho.

  “Why?” from the center Haric.

  “He does not need to answer that,” Subudai said, drawing all eyes.

  The Haric didn’t show it, but could feel their displeasure. It was like an aura through the room.

  “Khan Subudai, you are here as representative of the Faction Leadership in case any discipline or punishment is handed down to your faction member. You are not here to talk or interrupt.”

  I glanced at Subudai to see if he’d respond but he didn’t. He sat stiffly in his seat, glaring imperioiusly at the Haric. The three turned to Jhang Gho, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Having no choice, but knowing it was going to cost him later, Jhang Gho answered the question.

  “I was ordered to watch the store and see what Factions went in and out, if any appeared to have purchased anything and what their mood was upon exiting.”

  Jhang Gho had been spying on us. I looked back at Subudai who was doing his absolute best to ignore me, but I saw the twitch in his eyes as he quickly looked at me and then away. Sneaky bastard.

  And why hadn’t I thought about spying on Subudai’s store? I didn’t even know where his, or Freds, were in the streets. In my defense, it wasn’t like the Fellowship had a lot of extra Level 100s laying around like the Bounding Dragons did. But I’d have to talk to the Clan’s spymaster when I got back to Earth. That would be something we’d need to set up and might be worth having a couple working the store, just in case. I made a mental note to let Fred know to keep an eye out too.

  The tribunal didn’t react at Jhang Gho’s admission that he was spying. That was probably allowed.

  The three Haric looked at Jhang Gho impassively but we could all sense the impatience. The poor guy stammered a bit as he continued.

  “As I was leaving to report back to my Sectleader, the three Anura grabbed me and threw me into the alley between shops.”

  “Did they say anything?” the lead Haric asked.

  Jhang Gho nodded.

  “Once they had me against the wall,” Jhang Gho said, and we could all see that was embarrassing for him to say. He was Level 100 and should have put up some fight. “The lead Anura said that they had a message for Nicholas Howell.”

  I sighed. Stupid Anura. They saw a newly integrated human and just assumed he was one of mine. I glanced back at Subudai to see him glaring daggers at me. He seemed to be blaming me. Not sure why. I shrugged and turned back to the front.

  “Are you part of Nicholas Howell’s Faction?”

  “No, sir,” Jhang Gho said.

  “But it was Nicholas Howell that showed up to help you?”

  I could tell that Jhang Gho didn’t want to respond.

  “Yes.”

  The three Haric, almost as one, turned to face the Anura. The Anura said nothing. They looked paler shades of green. The Anura weren’t given a chance to respond because what was the point, everyone knew they’d been the aggressors and not only that, they’d attack the wrong Faction. The three Haric turned to face Orbic.

  “They shot an arrow,” he said, before they could ask. “Hit me in the shoulder.” He pointed to where the arrow had been, no sign of a wound remaining, but there was a bit of dried blood. “I was attacked, within my rights to respond.”

  The lead Haric nodded.

  “Indeed it is.”

  Silence fell, the three staring ahead and slightly up so they weren’t looking right at Subudai. I glanced at Orbic.

  “They’re coming to a decision,” he whispered.

  I nodded, not quite understanding what the Haric were doing but understanding I probably shouldn’t interrupt. Were they communicating telepathically? Linked to other Haric or an Overseer of some kind? It was interesting. Whatever they were doing, it only took a minute and they were back. First the Haric looked at Orbic.

  “Orbic Grun, Praetor of the Blood Sands Pact of Hortis, you are found not guilty of violating the Multiversal Nexus Peace Accords. You acted in self defense. You are awarded 5,000 Multiversal Credits.”

  “Thank you,” Orbic said, bowing his head.

  I was next.

  “Nicholas Howell, Clanchief of the Solace Fellowship of Terra, you are not found guilty of violating the Multiversal Nexus Peace Accords. Though you did not act in self-defense, you did act in defense of a member of your species even though they were not a member of your Faction. You are awarded 5,000 Multiversal Credits.”

  That was cool. Free credits for being a good guy and beating up some bullies. Of course, there was some bad will coming my way. But then it was coming from Subudai and the Anura, so was really just more bad will.

  “Jhang Gho of the Bounding Dragon Sect of Terra, you are not found guilty of violating the Multiversal Nexus Peace Accords. The attack upon you was unprovoked and the attacking party,” the Haric paused and glared at the Anura before turning back to face Jhang Gho. “did not even attack the right Faction. You are personally awarded 5,000 Multiversal Credits. The Bounding Dragon Sect is awarded 10,000 Multiversal Credits.”

  Luck. That was a good amount of credits going Subudai’s way for doing nothing but getting beat up. That wouldn’t help poor Jhang Gho, he was going to get in trouble with his boss. Probably get sent back to Earth and not allowed in Crossroads again, which would stunt his Advancement.

  “Horuitokios, Great Tern of the Uritilityio of Loriwe, your faction is found guilty of unprovoked attacking another Faction member within the boundaries of the Multiversal Nexus. Each of the attackers are fined 7,000 Multiversal Credits. The Uritilityio is fined 10,000 Multiversal Nexus.”

  That was a mass of credits to lose for being stupid. I doubted anyone would see the three Anura that had attacked Jhang Gho again. They’d get shipped back to their world and have an accident.

  The three Haric looked at us, making sure no one would object. No one did.

  “This Tribunal is adjourned.”

  The three got up, turned as one, and walked out a door in the left wall that hadn’t been there before.